The Heart Of Pokémon
by Darkford
Summary: We all love Pokémon for different reasons. Regardless of where we come from, who we are, or why we play Pokémon to this day, there are those moments you never forget. Pokémon is designed for that. It's time to record those moments, from the tragically sad to the momentously beautiful. Carried over from my Wattpad account, got corrupted, good job me.
1. Introduction and Hello's!

Hey-o Everybody!  
I'm Darkford, or DeeDee the Ranger. It's nice to meet you!  
This is an interactive story, which means that your comments can become actual parts of this 'story'.  
The Heart Of Pokémon is a fanfiction about - you guessed it - Pokémon, which is dedicated to recording momentous events in the games of players, from finding a shiny to the ultimate luckiness or unluckiness.  
As the author, it is up to me which events I use that have been suggested. Please remember that I try to make everyone happy, but that can't really work out entirely. I am willing to change, remove, or add to previous moments that I upload, so if there are any complaints you have, I'm here to listen. I'll try to help however I can.  
Thanks for your time. And now, onto the actual valuable part of this story - the moments!

PS. This chapter was originally corrupted because I transferred it from Wattpad. That has been sorted out now. I Hope.


	2. Moment 1 Sparkling First

(Moment from player Darkford in Silver(original))

"Alright, Okairu," he motioned, speeding out of town. "let's train a bit before we get back to Professor Elm. I like you already." The Totodile smiled up at him, gaping maw waggling in glee. A trainer to train him! It was like a dream!

Soon, the heads of a few common Pokémon popped up. Okairu and Ethan raced out into the grass, challenging passing wild Pokémon, until finally Okairu began to learn some new tricks.

"You learned something?" Ethan asked, crouching down next to his Totodile. "Can you show me?" The Totodile obliged by displaying a Rage attack on a nearby tree, and Ethan praised him effusively.

Just then, as Ethan decided to head for Cherrygrove, he heard a rustling in the grass. Turning to face his opponent, he went to check on his new friend, but quickly snapped his head back.

Standing there, up on its tail, was a Sentret.

Ethan hadn't considered a Sentret before. Pokémon like Sentret weren't rare, and generally weren't known to become anything spectacular; Ethan had dreamed of Feraligatr and Gengar and Ampharos, Pokémon people genuinely used on official, powerful, well-known teams. But this Sentret seemed... different, somehow. What got him was the strange sparkle that caught his eye, that shed off the Sentret as it poked its head out of the grass.

He motioned for Okairu to distract it as he thought of a plan. An urge in his core told him to catch this Pokémon, at any cost. He studied its features, noting the lighter fur, the dark pink ears, the similarly coloured rings around its tail. Okairu launched a weak water gun to attack, making the Sentret jump out of the way hurriedly./p  
Desperate, he surfed through his bag for something he could use. A Pokéball, anything. He checked the ball pocket. Nothing.

 _Well, maybe I accidentally put them somewhere else,_ Ethan thought nervously as his loyal Totodile dove at the Sentret, deliberately missing. He surfed through every pocket three times over, hoping beyond hope that he had Pokéballs _somewhere._

Nothing. He had nothing but Okairu's pokéball.

He felt his heart sink into the chasm of his chest. Thinking carefully back to what he knew about Pokémon, he ordered, "Okairu! Use rage, but try a glancing blow!"  
The Totodile nodded seriously and let a red glow enter his eyes. He jumped forward and hit the Sentret gently as he could with the technique, doing minimal damage.  
The Sentret gave Ethan and Okairu a look, this sort of longing, hopeful look, and it locked its eyes on Ethan's bag. Then, as if realizing there was nothing there, it ran away.

"No..." Ethan said gently, falling to let his knees touch the grass. Okairu walked up to Ethan and patted him on the shoulder, as if trying to reassure him.  
"You think it will be back tomorrow?" Ethan asked Okairu, clinging onto hope.

Okairu nodded slowly, hoping his trainer would feel better if he did so.

"Thanks." Ethan replied, wiping small tears away from his eyes. "I've... just never seen a Sentret quite like that one." He glanced at the sinking sun.

"Let's go to Cherrygrove," Ethan said at last. "It's on the way to Mr. Pokémon's place, and we can probably get some Pokéballs at the shop there." Okairu nodded seriously.  
Then, as the sun set, the bright flash of evolution washed over him, and Okairu became a Croconaw.

Later that evening, Ethan would walk into the Pokémon center only to find his dear Okairu had contracted a rare, yet presumably harmless virus.

"Your Pokémon appears to have tiny life forms stuck to it," Nurse Joy said, handing the Pokéball back to Ethan. "He seems to be fine. I'm afraid we can't tell you any more at the Pokémon Center." Ethan sighed and called Professor Elm.

After a few minutes of humming from Elm's side of the line, he came back. "I discovered an odd thing," he stated, and the rustling of papers told Ethan that he was checking notes. "Apparently there's something called Pokérus that infects Pokémon. Yes, it's like a virus, so it's called Pokérus. It multiplies fast and infects other Pokémon nearby, but that's all. It doesn't seem to do anything, and it goes away over time."

"I guess it's nothing to worry about," The young trainer said, glancing at his Pokémon. "Bye."

Ethan sighed and closed his Pokégear. "Well, Okairu, what do you say to some training?"


	3. Moment 2 A Sparkling Pokéball

(Moment from player Darkford in Sapphire (original))

"Alright, Everyone," Kazumi said, smiling at her starter. "Now it's just through Petalburg woods and we can sleep at the Pokémon Center." The two Pokémon - A Taillow, and Kazumi's starter, Torchic, were in Pokéballs on her belt, and the balls waggled in confirmation, though both were a little tired.

As Kazumi passed by a house by the sea, she saw a well-dressed trainer glancing around.

"Oh no," she whispered to herself. "You guys are already tired. Let's see if we can avoid him." The two nodded, agreeing to this plan, and she managed to sneak into some grasses a ways away.

"Now to get to the woods," Kazumi muttered, though words did not speak the difficulty of such a thing. She didn't really have time for this trainer, not then and there. A few moments later, something tugged at her bag, pulling out a pecha berry.

"Hey!" Kazumi cried, leaping up suddenly and simultaneously throwing her Taillow's Pokéball. Taillow leaped out of the Pokéball, eager for its first battle.

And, standing there eating a Pecha Berry, was a small Wurmple.

Kazumi blinked, then let her eyes refocus. She'd heard about this on TV, but never in her life did she think it would happen to her. The different colouration was striking enough to anyone that had even passing familiarity with a Wurmple to recognize this as a shining Wurmple.

The colours were gentle and dull, but it was obvious that it was different. Very slightly greener eyes and tail spikes, with a dull purple body, quite different from the regular bright pink and yellow. Her heart skipped a beat.

"Taillow! Use Quick Attack!" Kazumi ordered, barely even letting herself breathe. The Taillow noticed the change in his trainer's attitude and made sure to be gentle, only hitting hard enough for the Wurmple to fall on one side. It shot a thin line of string at Kazumi's Taillow, but Kazumi didn't care. She was already rumaging in her pack for a Pokéball.

"Only two left..." she murmured, sighing. She threw one, and it hit the Wurmple before it could right itself.

Wobble. Wobble.

She cringed as a bright flash blinded her for a moment, and the Wurmple popped out of the now-broken Pokéball. It seemed almost smug.

Kazumi didn't like that.

"Taillow!" She called to the sparrow that flew high above. He chirped and came down into earshot.

 _Distract it,_ She mouthed, barely daring to breathe. Taillow nodded and came around back of the Wurmple, throwing out a sand attack.

 _NOW!_

Kazumi threw the ball and stared at it. Hard.

Wobble. Wobble.

Wobble.

Click!

For a few moments she just stared.

Then she leaped into the air, jumping for joy, as Taillow perched on her shoulder. She ran over and picked up the Pokéball, really feeling it for the first time. She pulled out the Pokédex she'd received and scanned it, smiling as the purple colours showed up on the screen.

"I caught a Shiny Pokémon!" The young trainer cried exuberantly. Singing to herself, she practically danced towards the path into Petalburg woods, grinning gleefully as her Taillow and Torchic dealt with any annoyances. She didn't even notice as the Rich Kid took a few steps forward to challenge her.

He stopped after he realized that the girl he intended to challenge was too giddy to even pay attention to him.


	4. Moment 3 A New Beginning

(Moment from player Darkford in Alpha Sapphire)

"Hey!" Mitsuru called to the young boy who ran the Day Care with his sister. "How's the Tirtouga resurrection effort team?"

"Great!" The young boy replied. "The Tirtouga you left with us gave me this!" He held out a Pokémon egg.

"May I?" Mitsuru checked, before carefully picking up the egg. He put it in his sack gently and was about to go back to the shack he had at the Resort when the boy caught his attention.

"By the way," he asked, "my sister never tells me. Do you know how the eggs get here?

"No idea," Mitsuru lied.

What? He wasn't about to ruin a perfectly innocent child.

The boy shrugged and turned to another one of their many customers. Mitsuru sighed in relief and carried the egg back to his hut.

As he opened the door, his loyal Ponyta whinnied to tell him one of the eggs had hatched. He walked over slowly and laid the new egg in the incubator, and a small pair of eyes stared up at him from within a dark blue shell.

"Hello, little Tirtouga," He sweet-talked, sugaring his voice in an attempt not to startle the little one. It blinked, then lowered its head, apparently uninterested in the person who had revived his fossilized parents.

"Ponyta, how are last month's eggs?" He asked, cleaning the newborn's shell. (It was slightly unnecessary, since Ponyta licked them clean himself, but Mitsuru did it anyway to help the youngest get used to humans.)

Ponyta neighed an affirmative, walking over to the youngest of the bunch. The Tirtouga looked relatively large, although the rest were bigger, and Mitsuru nodded in satisfaction.

"Good," He said happily. "There's a Wonder Market today, so I'm going to put up a stall for the revival efforts." The group of Tirtouga looked at him, not really in any specific way, as they were returned to Pokéballs. Mitsuru made certain not to get too attached to them; while he needed them to know humans were okay, it was also important that they didn't get too attached to him. They would be sent to new trainers, after all.

He collected up the Pokéballs, grinning at the large numbers which he hadn't imagined would be possible, and biked his way over to the stalls up at the top of the island, where stalls were already being put up.

* * *

Mitsuru waited patiently as people came by. He accepted any and all Pokémon, passing most on to worthy trainers or those looking for specific species, and even keeping some himself. Ponyta was one of those gems, and he was glad to have him.

After a few minutes, eager trainers had come by with some common Hoenn natives in hopes of getting one of the rare fossil Pokémon, and soon only a few were left.

"Here," A trainer said, trying to hide her face. "Please take it. I don't really have much affinity for her. She'd be better in your hands." She thrust a Pokéball into the trade machine, and Mitsuru, bewildered, put one of the remaining Tirtouga into the machine's opposite slot. A few long moments later, the girl picked up the Pokéball fondly, and ran off.

As the day ended, Mitsuru went back to his small house and went through the Pokéballs with his Ponyta. A few young Skitty and a Poochyena were first, and he promptly decided those could go to some of the reserves in Kalos. A Zigzagoon, a Nincada, then a Fletchling which he decided to keep.

It was getting tiring using the boat all the time. A flyer would be useful.

He let the Fletchling perch herself on his shoulder, and he opened the last Pokéball, the one from the mysterious girl.

A Spritzee popped out, and even as it did, the light of evolution flowed over him, and he grew to stand on his own feet, fluff growing out from his torso down and ears lined with yellow highlights growing upwards. He stared expectantly up at his new trainer.

"Hello there," he said to the newly-evolved Aromatisse. "Let's give you a quick scan, shall we?" He pulled out his Pokédex, and carefully read the information.

Suddenly he was glad he got the upgrade to National that Birch gave him. There were pictures to identify different forms of each Pokémon, and the one on the screen said something he didn't expect. In small print, it said, 'New form being recorded.', and the little picture changed the Pokémon from a regular Aromatisse's Light and hot pink tones to the electric pink and shocking purple of the one in front of him.

"You're no regular Pokémon, are you?" He grinned, as his new team mate inspected Ponyta. "What do you say? Do you want a real challenge?" The Aromatisse perked up at this suggestion, as if he really liked battling, and Mitsuru laughed.

"You're definitely in my fifth team slot," He decided. "You deserve it."

He got a smile from the underloved shining Pokémon.


	5. Moment 4 A Dream Come True

Mitsuru stretched after handing his friend, the amicable layabout Ramona. She clicked the remote and allowed the rerun of Disney films to continue.

"You know I completed the Pokedex recently?" Mitsuru commented, a chipper tone in his voice. "Ol' man Birch gave me this cute little charm, claiming it would let me encounter rare Pokémon. It's a nice thought, that he'd do that for me."

"You know he ought to give you a whole lot more," Ramona grumbled, glancing at the incubator in the corner. "You've been working real hard, even borrowing Pokémon barely anyone seems to have. How DID you find that girl with the Manaphy?"

Said Pokémon was sitting on the couch munching happily on sea salt flavoured chips. It seemed that the Prince of the Sea found the small house at the Battle Resort quite like his home enough to make him comfortable.

"It was simple!" Mitsuru replied, rubbing the Mythical Seafaring Pokémon's head. "Only idiots would openly have a Pokémon as rare as a Manaphy! All I did was suggest that she take one of my rarer collection members and that I would take Manaphy here off her hands. She was pretty eager - Milotic are pretty popular, you know, and you can't exactly get them very easily, especially in the Kalos region."

Ramona sighed and watched the television as Snow White and the seven Dwarfs danced through the televised kitchen with a bored expression. It was hard to shake her, even with Pokémon as rare and unfathomably difficult to find as Manaphy. It helped that she didn't really care one way or another - a Pokémon was a Pokémon, and she treated each one with a mixture of boredom and pensive fascination.

"What's the next batch you've been raising?" She inquired calmly, pausing the video.

Mitsuru grinned. "I managed to get my paws on a pair of Larvesta. They're one of my favourites, species-wise."

Just then, there was a low banging on the door, one that was gentler than how others would do so. Mitsuru got up and commented, "Must be Rapidash. He's always careful with the door."

The door swung open, and for a few startled moments all that he noticed was a small form walking past his loyal Rapidash's hooves. He blinked and looked down as it tugged on his pant leg insistently.

He stopped.

For a brief moment, he was so ecstatic that his heart skipped a beat.

Then, loosing all sense of manhood, he squealed and picked the Pokémon up.

"I'm naming you Icarus! Welcome to the team!" He cried, grinning from ear to ear. He proceeded to gently place the shining Pokémon down and dance around the room in an excitable manner.

"What's got you all riled up?" She inquired, raising an eyebrow as her usually calm and collected friend danced about in various disturbing fashions.

"You remember Kale, right?" He asked, grabbing her shoulders. "The guy who breeds just for shinies?"

"Yeah?" She replied uneasily. She glanced at the Larvesta, whose five glowing winglets glowed like a nightlight in a pulsing shade of bright sunshine yellow.

"He was so mad," Mitsuru continued, "when - after thousands of eggs - he STILL couldn't get a shiny Larvesta, just like Icarus here," he cried proudly. "Just goes to show nice guys don't finish last!"

And with that, he lifted Icarus onto his shoulder, waved to his friend, and cried, "See you in a week! Icarus and I are going on a celebratory adventure!"

SLAM.

"He's pretty enthusiastic, huh?" Ramona commented, getting a confirmatory whinny from Rapidash, who rested himself on the floor in front of the couch. "Guess I've got his house for a week. How do you feel about a Hariyama Potter marathon?"

Manaphy paused to smile in confirmation, before going back to his sea salt chips.


End file.
